Love Hina Reanimated
by Novice89
Summary: Basically a retelling of the series with some changes.
1. Meeting the Fox

Novice89 - Quick note. I'm not sure when my other stories will be updated, but hang on. Meanwhile here's something small I made up in my spare time. By the way, his is another Kit/Kei. I got the idea from another story. Anyways, Keitaro has the post Seta glass. Enjoy!  
  
Chapter 1 - Meeting the Fox  
  
Keitaro Urashima walked along the business district, a frown on his face. He had just gotten back from the Tokyo U campus, where he found out that he had failed the entrance exam for the second year in a row. He sighed as he walked past men and women in business suits talking on their cellphones.  
  
Not much could go wrong in his world at this point, he had failed once again, his parents were kicking him out and his supply of money was almost nonexistent. Again he sighed and decided that he would think clearly tomorrow and drown his problems in sake for the time being.  
  
He walked down the end of an alley and went into a small underground tavern he had come to discover after failing his first entrance exam. It was a small, quaint room, filled with sights and sounds. It never made you want to puke your guts out or anything. The liquor was good, as was the bartender. Choosing a seat at the bar, he ordered some sake, regular sake.  
  
"So you failed again?" the bartender, who had come to know Keitaro very well, asked. As if on que, Keitaro sank lower into his chair, feeling even more crushed. The bartender realizing his mistake was quick to rectify, "Here have something, anything on the house."  
  
"C'mon, Kitsune, I've paid for the last twenty drinks, twenty." A red haired girls complained to her friend, a girl with short blonde hair.  
"C'mon, why are you so hooked on money. You have to just kick back and enjoy."  
"That's what you've been saying to me the last two hours. We should just go now." Ranted the girl, but Kitsune was staring at the young man who had just enter the bar a couple of minutes ago, looking very depressed. She thought he looked familiar for a while. She sat there staring at him for a while, wondering where she had seen him, while her friend, Naru Narusegawa continued rambling on and on about something.  
  
Keitaro sipped the bittersweet liquid and relaxed a bit, letting the buzz kick in slightly. He had no intentions of getting completely smashed, but a nice buzz to lift his spirits would definitely be appreciated. Suddenly the hairs on his neck stood on end, a sign that someone was watching him, as he took another sip. He turned around and saw Kitsune, 'the fox', watching, no staring at him, Keitaro Urashima, second year ronin and loser. He was dumbfouned, but under his slightly intoxicated state, he was able to stay cool. When he was about to see if he had anything in his teeth, he decided to have a little fun. When was an opportunity like this ever presented to him of all people? Never.  
  
Gathering his nerves, and sake he went over the small table at the end of the room, where the girls was sitting. Kitsune, knowing that she had been caught, started to blush like crazy. As Keitaro made his way over, he grabbed a glass of sake from the bartender, who of course was keenly watching Keitaros game of cat and mouse.  
  
Naru, completely oblivious to everything other than herself, continued talking and was thus surprised when a male voice reached her ears. "May I join you." Came the sly, almost coy, voice of Keitaro Urashima. In his intoxicated state, he could care less what happened, it was almost a given at this point that he was immortal so he thought; 'The hell with it.'  
  
Naru sighed obviously thinking that another male worshipper had come to ask her out on a date, and started her rejection speech. "Look, I'm sorry, but I'm not ready for tha." Keitaro turned and looked at Naru, almost at once recognizing her form cram school. He raised an eyebrow at Naru, who had now stopped to think about where she'd seen him before. He sat down, interpreting Kitsune's snagging the sake from him as a yes. "What do you think you're doing?" Naru sounded slightly annoyed.  
  
"Just stopping by to say hi, Naru." He said without even thinking about anything. "How do you know my name. You better not be some goon Kentaro Sakata sent to stalk me or some old pervert trying to get some." Keitaro had to work hard to keep the snide retort from escaping his mouth. Of course, what Naru had forgotten was that she had bags under her eyes, she wore grey sweat clothes, her coke bottle glass and her hair was up.  
  
Keitaro chuckled a bit, enjoying the humor of the situation. "No, you go to my cram school. I'm in your math class." "Oh yeah. Hey get away from me, you got a twenty seven from tteh bottom, I don't want your stupidity, it's probably contagious." Naru half screamed. Keitaro winced. That had hurt deep. Taking a gulp from his bottle, he turned to Kitsune, who had now finished the bottle he had brought. Raising an eyebrow, he asked, "awful thirsty aren't we?" Kitsune blushed slightly and was about to respond when Naru interjected.  
  
"I SAID GET AWAY FROM ME. YOUR STUPIDITY IS CONTAGIOUS! LEAVE!" Naru screamed before sending Keitaro off with a mighty punch. Half the customers shook their heads in pity, while the others sweatdropped. While Naru calmed down, the bartender approached her. "Miss, now I don't want to pursue this incident, but you're going to have to pay his bill, seeing as he should be waking up in Osaka by now." Naru growled at her own stupidity and reach for her wallet. 


	2. Moving In

Chapter 2 - Moving In  
  
Keitaro Urashima woke up five minutes later in the heart of Tokyo, with his buzz gone and a major headache. 'Heh, at least I have all my money and didn't have to pay.' Getting up, he thanked the heavens that his home was only down the street. Then he grimaced remembering that he had to leave and that he had set all his stuff outside the garage, as well as his bike.  
  
Getting his only backpack, he raced through the streets of Tokyo, towards Hinata, where his grandmother owned an inn, where maybe, he just might be able to get a place to live. He slowed down his pace, realizing that it was still noon, and that he had no rush. Gliding along the crowded streets with experience, Keitaro continued his ride to his aunts teahouse, and, from there, his grandmas inn. Stopping only once for a small snack, he continued on his path to chaos.  
  
Haruka sat in the shade of her teahouse, expecting her nephew, who she had called over to discuss some 'unforeseen developments'. Business today was slow and she had decided to close up for the day, realizing that there wasn't any point in staying open. She sighed, taking a long drag of her cigarette, wondering what she would say to Keitaro.  
  
Speaking of whom, was currently trying to get past midday traffic, only to wind up in more and more dead ends, and alleys. Finally giving up, he got off the bike and started the long trek to Hinata.  
  
Naru, still fuming, returned to Hinata Sou, a rather subdued Kitsune in tow. Of course, she was angry at her 'stalker' whom had so politely 'left' before paying his bill, leaving her to cover both hers, Kitsunes and Ketaros bill. Grumbling something about studying, she went and locked herself in her room, to drown her troubles in texts, and literature. Su, a blonde middle-schooler with tanned skin, was bouncing around for the pure hell of it, Kitsune was in her room and Motoko was training on the roof.  
  
"Oh, for the love of god." Keitaro muttered as, once again, the signed turned to don't walk. He was already half an hour late, and the traffic jam had still not subsided. Muttering some swears in Japanese, he walked on, now running in a mad dash to get to his aunts.  
  
Haruka Urashima, stood outside her teahouse, still waiting for her nephew, a pile of finished cigarettes at her feet. Sighing once again, she went into the garage that lay hidden behind her teahouse. Putting her car in drive, she left the garage, its door shutting by itself. Preparing for her ride, she was slightly surprised when she almost ran over her nephew, who had finally showed up. She sighed, getting out of the black BMW. "I honestly wish I could say I didn't see this coming." She commented dryly as Keitaro picked himself of the ground bleeding profusely. "There's a tux in the back, shower and change, we have about sixteen minutes. I'll explain in the car." She said. Nodding, Keitaro ran off to the teahouse.  
  
Sixteen minutes later, met Keitaro and Haruka in the car, coasting along the almost empty roads behind the forest. "Where are we going?" he asked. Haruka sighed.  
"There's no easy way to say this, so I'll just say it. Last week, your grandma Hina passed away. She died in a hotsprings. She must have fainted because of the heat, and drowned." Haruka explained in a chocked up voice. Keitaro's jaw dropped and he stared at his aunt, who was fighting back tears for the first time in her life. She was losing. Patting her on the back comfortingly, Keitaro murmered, "At least she died doing what she loved. Are we going to the funeral?"  
Haruka shook her shook her head, "No, we're going to the reading of her sill. She didn't want a funeral. She wanted to be cremated and have her ashes swept up in the wind, carrying her to wherever the heavens pleased." "Oh." The rest of the drive was silent, even though now it was a comfortable silence. Half an hour later, they came to an old temple, surrounded by cars. Parking her car near the entrance of the road, in order to avoid traffic when leaving, Haruka and Keitaro left the car and walked into the temple.  
  
The ceremony had already started and the pair sat at the end of the temple. The announcer had seemingly not noticed them. He continued his awarding. "And to Tadyoka Urashima, Hina would like to leave her collection of diamond turtles, estimated worth at four hundred thousand yen. To Haruka Urashima," Haruka looked up, no longer finding the floor very interesting, "Her collection of vintage and imported Sake, as well as the Urashima sword collection, estimated at one point sixe million yen." Haruka suddenly brightened up a bit. "And finally, to her beloved grandson, Keitaro Urashima," Keitaro, looked up, surprised that his grandmother had included him in her will, "All of Hinata Sou, including all furnishings inside other than those of the tenants, as well as her entire fortune, of over sixty-nine million yen." Keitaro then fainted.  
  
Five hours later, Keitaro awoke in a strange room, with a nauseating headache. Groggily getting up and forgetting his glasses, he stumbled around until he found the restroom. Finding it, he puked his guts out, even though he had not eaten anything at all the entire day. Wandering around in the new building, he found out that it was evening. After wandering for about half and hour, he found a hotspring. Enthusiastically hopping out of his clothes, he failed to see the resting figure of Naru Narusegawa.  
  
Sliding into the warm water, Keitaro let out a sigh, as he let the water tense away all the stress. Naru, thinking he was Kitsune came over to chat. "Hey Kitsune, is that you?" Keitaro, still not thinking clearly answered snidely, "No, it's the prince of ancient Persia." "Hey, what are you doing here? PERVERT!!!" As batman would answer to the bat signal, Motoko answered to the pervert call. Kitsune and Su came to watch.  
  
Keitaro, slowly coming out of his groggy state realized that for once, he was in deep @#$%. "Uh. I guess it'll be too much to ask for you to let me get a towel and explain before you bash my head in." came his nervous request. Due to the fog, only Naru knew that it was Keitaro from the bar. "What are you doing here? You better not be stalking me again. And where's my money?" Keitaro just stared like a deer caught in headlights. "What are you looking at, huh?" Still all she got was a stare. Keitaro, due to all the intense projections of fear in his body had now gone into shock.  
  
Deep inside the burrows of Keitaro, a grumpy old man walks up to a tattery looking machine and kicks it, muttering "damn panic machines."  
  
Outside Keitaro, who watched in slow motion as Motoko unsheathed her katana and Naru reared her fist. He smiled a bit and got out, realizing that he had the forsight to at least wrap a towel around himself. Taking another towel from the bench, he started to dry his unruly black hair as time corrected itself. Motoko and Naru were now thrown forward due to their own inertia. "Foul demon, what have you done!?" Motoko screamed.  
  
"Nothing, you just seemed to be going a little slow, so I walked out of the spring and got a towel to dry myself." He explained in a really bored tone. "You WALKED! You, huh, must be your stalker training." "What are you talking about?" "You know goddam well what I'm talking about!" "Should you really be saying that in front of children?" Naru was quiet, realizing that Keitaro was right. Su lloked around, confused.  
  
Naru again snapped. "Look what you made me do. Now get the hell out of here. Tell Kentaro, if he wants a date so much, all he should do is ask, not send stalkers." Keitaro rolled his eyes. "I honestly don't know what you're talking about. I'll leave. In fact, I don't even know why I'm here, I just woke up in some strange room."  
  
"Begone from this place, demon!" Motoko yelled, threatening Keitaro with her sword once again. Sighing, he explained, "Geez, I'd love to, what with all this support, but you see, you're standing right next to my clothes. And in all respects, I can't just walk out like this." After putting his clothes on, in the closet of course, Naru shoved his bags in his face a pushed him out the door.  
  
Haruka looked up from her new possessions to see a rather perturbed Keitaro walk in, his luggage in his hands. "What are you doing here? What about your new home in Hinata Sou?" Keitaro gave a clueless expression by way of response. "It wasn't a dream!?" "You really don't remember anything. After you inherited Hinata Sou and Hina's last fortune, you went into shock. Of course, somehow, your body just kept going throught the notions. Your deed to Hinata Sou is in the blue bag, back pocket and a check is in the green backpack, front pocket." Keitaro just stood there gaping like an idiot. To help his mind grasp the concept presented to it, Keitaro took a long gulp of sake he had found on the table.  
  
Another one.  
  
Another one.  
  
Another one.  
  
"Heh-eh, are you going to finish your aunts sake or are you going home?" It wasn't a question. It was a threat, one that Keitaro wasn't going to question. Picking up his bags he sped out of the teahouse.  
  
Meanwhile, back at the H-Pad, Naru and Motoko were b@#$%ing about Keitaro's little entrance and abrupt departure. "Of all the nerve. Pretending he woke up here. He probably snuck up to spy on me while we were out. That Sakata." "That troublesome male causing you problems Naru-sempai, and I will disembowl him myself." "It's alright Motoko. I can deal with him on Monday. I swear, if I ever see that Keitaro, I'll kill him myself."  
  
A nervous gulp brought everyones [They were all in the foyer] attention to the door, where Keitaro stood, holding a piece of paper, shaking uncontrollably. "What are you doing here, baka ronin. I thought I told you never to come back." "I see that you have not gotten enough of my katana, foolish pervert."  
  
"I.i.gu..e.gues.s you could say that." He spoke nervously, indeicating towards the paper. He slowly and shakily held it up. "You see. I'm now the le.egal owner of Hinata Sou."  
  
A/N - Six reviews or the bear takes a long nap with the fishes ( 


	3. Swords and Sake

Chapter 3 - Swords and Sake, a mans trials and tribulations  
  
89-Cool title, eh? Anyway, Never Again will be updated really soon, sorry for the wait. I'm not sure about The Wrath of the Wing Knight. It's holy week at my house, I can hardly get in any down time. I hope you've had a merry Christmas, I sure haven't had one. In fact, it's been a @#$%ing bad one. Anyway, I'm not sure how to keep this story going so in any reviews you send, tell me what you want to happen, and If it's novice89 worthy, then I'll put it up. R&R!  
  
Keitaro Urashima, heir to the Hinata Inn, sat dejectedly in a corner of his room, surrounded by his bags, still not unpacked. He sighed, recalling his horrible welcome. When he had showed them the inheritance, he had expected some heated protests, but nothing like what they had done. He shuddered, remembering how they had reacted. 'Something like that scars you for life.' he mused.  
  
|Flashback|  
  
A nervous gulp brought everyones [They were all in the foyer] attention to  
the door, where Keitaro stood, holding a piece of paper, shaking uncontrollably. "What are you doing here, baka ronin. I thought I told you never to come back." "I see that you have not gotten enough of my katana,  
foolish pervert."  
  
"I.i.gu..e.gues.s you could say that." He spoke nervously, indeicating towards the paper. He slowly and shakily held it up. "You see. I'm now the  
le.egal owner of Hinata Sou."  
  
The girls stared at him for a while, then the paper, then burst out laughing. "HA,HA, what a great joke," Naru started, "But seriously what  
the hell are you doing back here."  
  
"But honestly, I am the owner." He continued, drawing even more condescending laughter from the girls. Keitaro sighed and began to move forward, planning on explaining himself once they had settled down. His stride had been cut short when Motoko drew her katana and pushed the metal  
tip to his jugular.  
  
"Where do you think you're going." She asked/threatened him. "Um..like.I said, I'm the new manager." Motoko chuckled darkly. "Stop lying demon or face the wrath of my blade once again." "I've felt the wrath of your blade enough times for one lifetime. But, honestly, I would leave if I wasn't  
serious."  
  
The next thing Keitaro remembers is hanging from a rope, with a boiling pot of stew underneath him. His clothes have been taken and he now hangs with only his teddy bear boxers. "Wow, if this is what your welcome parties are  
like, I can't wait until a birthday." He said sarcasm detector going  
through the roof.  
  
"Shutup you baka pervert. You better tell us who sent you or else."  
Keitaro half closed his eyes in a bored expression. "The word modest really doesn't apply to you does it?" "Begone you foul, lecherous male." "Whoops, I didn't know it was that time of month." Su came into the room  
carrying torches, cannons, not to mention the army of mini tanks arming  
nukes behind her. Keitaro tried in vain to swallow his tart comments. "Can you say arsenist?" "Be quiet. Tell us who sent you to spy on Naru-  
sempai." Motoko demanded. "Wow, I didn't realize that you had a cult dedicated to you, Naru." He said, snickering at her frustration. "Enough,  
I will not let you take Naru Sempai's innocence." "Wow, the lilacs are really blooming now, aren't they?" Keitaro added, continuing his verbal  
assault on the less then stable girls. "Enough, Die!" Motoko swipes her blade at him. He pulls back and avoids  
getting his head chopped off. Motoko swung again and again, trying  
desperately to hit him.  
At this moment, Haruka walks in. Keitaro sighs and say "Boy, I never  
thought I'd live to see the day I would be so glad that you're here."  
  
"What are you doing to my nephew?" "Wha.he's your nephew?" Naru stammered. "I've been trying to tell you for the past hour or so that I'm the manager. But if you'ld rather hear it from Haruka." Naru turned on Haruka, along with Motoko and Su. Keitaro choose this moment to worm his way out of his binds, away from the boiling pot and sprint to his new room,  
flipping over Su's many traps.  
  
|End Flashback|  
  
Keitaro shivered, wondering just how many body parts they planned on stripping him of. After a few anxious moments his Aunt walked in. She looked at him and sighed. "As I thought they would be, they're against having a male manager. I haven't told them that you own Hinata Sou, or else I think they'd skin you alive and taken the deed. Be warned, they have begrudgingly accepted you. Meaning that they're going to try anything to drive you away. Just thought you should know." Haruka walked away, brandishing a new cigarette.  
  
Keitaro stood perfectly still, gazing upon the spot where his final hope had once stood. Deciding that he would have to leave sometime. He crawled out of the room and started to wander. Before he could sit down, the girls confronted him. Naru gave him a mop and broom, Motoko brandished her sword to stop any protests. "Your bath is on the third floor. You can find it. Now get to work, it's the managers duty to take care of his tenants." Keitaro took his new tools, slightly annoyed at the lukewarm welcome, but was scared enough to swallow the scathing comment trying to escape the confines of his throat. 


	4. Old Crushes and New Cooks

Chapter 4 - Old crushes and New Cooks  
  
89-Wow, I really couldn't have been more obvious about this chapter. What if kind, blissfully ignorant, charming Seta, was turned into a ruthless, cold hearted, but still suave Ates. Wow. I really love sarcasm.  
  
Keitaro stood on the third floor, gathering his material, after a hard days chores. In truth, this was nothing compared to the chores he had to do at his parents shop everyday, before he moved out. As he placed the final mop, he heard a scream from downstairs. Rushing off, he hurtled down the stairs with surprising agility. He headed towards the kitchen where the scream had come from. The scene that confronted him was bizarre to say the least.  
  
Kitsune was sprawled along the table gulping gallons of water, Su was running around, Motoko was really hot and blustering, while Naru was yelling at them, a dish of her cooking in her hand. "Com'n, it wasn't that bad. Fine, you cook." Motoko mumbled something about not being able to, while Kitsune was still busy drowning herself. Su, of course brandished about six hot sauce bottles in her hand and started advancing on the stove. Naru stopped her. "No way Su, last time we let you, we had to call the water department and order tanks of it to finally get rid of all the hot sauce," Naru sighed, "Oh well, we'll just have to order out. Again."  
  
Keitaro sweatdropped and walked to Kitsune. "How often does this happen?" he asked with a bit of astonishment in his voice. Kitsune jumped with a start and turned around blushing madly. "Everytime we make the mistake of letting her cook." "How often is that?" "Every night." "I see." Before Naru took up the phone, Keitaro called out. "STOP!" Naru gasped a little and turned around annoyed. "oh, it's you baka pervert. We told you to clean Hinata Sou." "I did." "Stop lying, no one's that fast, especially a baka ronin like you." "Just go see for yourself." "Fine. Motoko, watch him."  
  
Naru walked out of the kitchen for a minute, before rushing up to check the other floors. She walked back in a little later. "How, everything's clean. How. You must have hired someone and snuck them in while we were busy." "Busy lazing around you little." "WHAT!?" "Oh nothing. Cleaning Hinata Sou is nothing compared to the chores I had to do at my parents pastry shop before I moved out." "Whatever." "Um, about diner, I'll cook." Naru rolloed her eyes and left. Motoko and Su left also, trying to kill time. This left Kitsune and Keitaro. "Well." said Keitaro, observing the mess Naru had left critically, "Looks like I have my work cut out for me."  
  
An hour later found diner done and Keitaro relaxing talking to Kitsune. "Well, I guess we've never really had a chance to talk like I've done with almost everyone else. If you consider getting threatened with a boiling pot a stew talking." Kitsune chuckled slightly, still uncomfortable under his gaze. Out of nowhere, Keitaro pulled out a bottle of sake. Opening it, he took a sip. Wiping the opening, he offered it to Kitsune who graciously accepted. After a few sips, conversation started on its own.  
  
"So, you're the manager of Hinata Sou now?"  
  
"Yeah, but I get the feeling that I might be leaving."  
  
"I would worry more about Naru than Motoko. If you can survive her, you can probably survive anything."  
  
"Wow, I don't think I've ever been so terrified of anything in my life."  
  
"You get used to it, if you stick around that is."  
  
"Yeah. So, I know some basic stuff about you Ms. Konno. Age 21, short platinum blond hair, grey-green eyes, when you can see them, etc. I'm Urashima Keitaro, 21, black hair, oak eyes, about 5'6", with a moderate dislike for binge spending. But that's pretty basic stuff. Why don." "AREN'T YOU DONE? We're hungry." Keitaro siged, remembering he still had to serve dinner. Ushering Kitsune into the dining room, he prepared the dishes.  
  
He walked in to the dining room, carrying his dishes and placing them in front of the girls. "It's looks good, but let's try it." Naru said, tryin not to drool at the sight of Keitaro's masterpiece. Several dishes later found the girls with contented smiles. Keitaro went to get something. He came back with a box about four feet high. He placed in the center of the table. "To start my new time here at Hinata Sou, I made this for everyone with hope of getting on the right foot, so to speak." He said, while opening the box, he revealed his greatest achievement. A large, hand crafted chocolate cake. Drool once again began to drip from the girls mouths as they gazed upon heaven's dessert.  
  
Keitaro woke up in his futon that morning with a sense of pride and accomplishment. Last noght had gone amazingly well, given their initial meeting had been less that friendly. They had all enjoyed the food so much, they volunteered to help with the dishes. He had finally collapsed onto his bed after a nightcap around midnight. He had woken up to an empty house, Motoko being on her weekend retreat, Naru out doing shopping with Kitsune and Su just . somewhere. He sighed, deciding to walk around town.  
  
After browsing through some odd shops, Keitaro stopped at a small quaint family restaurant for some tea. Seating himself at one end of the room, Keitaro ordered a small green tea. Looking around, he spotted a small girl with blue hair. Thinking she looked familiar, he strode over to her and took the seat across from her. "Excuse me miss, but I couldn't help but notice you look really familiar." he stopped when she looked up, shocked to see someone there. She was even more surprised when she saw who it was. "Oh mister, I'm really sorry, but you left your notebook on the bench and I really am sorry." she stuttered, before breaking down into hysterics. Feeling responsible, Keitaro tried to calm her down. "Com'n don't cry. I don't blame you for anything." When she showed no signs of stopping, he suggested, "How about we head to a nice inn I manage just up the hill. You can explain everything there." She nodded slowly before once again breaking down. Sighing, he paid both their bills and left with the tear stained girl.  
  
The walk to Hinata Sou was unremarkably dull and silent. When they finally got up the hill, they entered Hinata Sou, still silent and deserted. After getting some tea, Keitaro sat down in the living room with the girl. "So.um.what's your name?" he asked, trying to break the ice.  
  
"Shinobu." She answeed nervously.  
  
"I'm Keitaro Urashima. Manager of this building. So .er.what about the notebook, Shinobu?" Shinobu hurried to take it out of her bag. Keitaro suddenly gasped as he remembered her. It had been the day before getting his results back. He had sat down on the bench across from her on some street and had subconsciously begun to make a sketch of her. Some wise ass had stolen his notebook and dropped it in front of her. He had run off, to scared and embarrassed to deal.  
  
"Oh," he said accepting the green notebook from her and rubbing the back of his neck, "I would really like to apolo." Keitaro was cut of as Naru's fist made it's way into his jaw. He got knocked out and sent flying from the impact. Shinobu had once again broken down. Naru, thinking that it was because Keitaro had tried to rape her went to console the girl. "There, there, he's gone. He wont hurt you." At this, Shinobu burst into even more tears. Kitsune, being wiser than Naru, said to the girl, "Don't worry, he'll be fine." Shinobu calmed down enough to introduce herself and explain what had happened. Over this time, Motoko and Su had returned and met the girl.  
  
"And that's what happened. I'm really sorry." Shinobu softly said. "Oh" muttered Naru, realizing her mistake. It was now dark. "Oh crap, we forgot dinner. Look's like we'll have to order out again. Now that Keitaro isn't here." "Um..I can . cook." Shinobu stammered. Kitsune smiled slowly and led the girl to the kitchen.  
  
Elsewhere in Tokyo  
  
Keitaro woke up with a stinging headache, in the middle of a street. He slowly stood extracting himself from the asphalt. As he cursed his bad luck and tried to work out where he was. All of a sudden, a van careened onto the side street and barreled onwards towards him. Keitaro stared like a deer caught in head lights. I was obvious the driver was drunk or just really bad. Either way, Keitaro was screwed. As the van plowed through yet another trash barrel, the man finally pulled the hand brakes, swerving to avoid Keitaro. Missing him by inches, the man stopped the van and got out.  
  
"Sir, are you okay?" he asked, completely oblivious to his head, which was now gushing blood everywhere. Keitaro sweatdropped and answered; "I could ask you the same thing."  
  
The man chuckled before offering Keitaro a lift, which he was about to refuse after the driving demo he had just seen, but realizing that it was this or wander aimlessly around Tokyo for hours. Reluctantly accepting, Keitaro got in to the van with the man, only to get attacked by a rambunctious 12 year old blond girl. "What are you doing in my papas car?" she accosted. The man came in and the girl acted as if the were greeting each other. "Wow, I've never really seen Sara warm up to someone so fast. My name is Seta. Yours would be?"  
  
"Keitaro Urashima." Said a nervous Keitaro, eyeing the young girl, who had started to drag him to the back, a malicious gleam in her eyes. "I'm headed towards Hinata." "Really? So am I. What a coincidence." Seta responded, failing to notice Sara start to pummel Keitaro.  
  
The ride was fairly silent albeit the occasional murmurs of struggle in the back. They had almost fallen over a bridge twice, crashed into twelve different trashcans, kill over thirty cats all in one go. Once they arrived at Hianta Sou, Keitaro crawled out, barely recognizable from his beating, now shattered and scarred for life. Seta let out a whistle. "This is exactly where I was heading. If I recall correctly, it's an all girls dorm. What are you doing here? I'm here to ask the manager for a room for my girl Sara here." Keitaro gulped, eyeing the blond American with nervousness. "Well, you found him." 


	5. New Tenants

Chapter 5 - New Tenants  
  
As if he needed anymore of a premonition, the sky boomed and lightening appeared in the horizon, rain soon following in thick heavy drops. Keitaro shuddered as he led Seta up the stairs to Hinata Sou, throwing back occasional glances at the blonde American, who was at present fingering a rather heavy looking rock. Seta remained absolutely oblivious, from his still bleeding head, the the horrible weather, and even Sara taking close aim at Keitaro.  
  
Keitaro sighed, realizing that he wasn't about to get any sleep for a long time. He had seen enough here at Hinata Sou to put him permanent shock therapy. Upon reaching the top Keitaro quickly entered the boarding house, expecting to find total chaos. What he found was Naru, Motoko, Su, and Kitsune sitting in the living room, delicious fragrances coming from the kitchen.  
  
He was aboutto ask where Shinobu had run off too when he got his answer. "Um.dinner's ready!" came her distinct voice from the dining room. The girls, whom Sara had somehow joined bolted for the kitchen, leaving a disgruntled Keitaro and Seta. "Um.yeah. Anyways, I would rather get this over with before dinner, if you don't mind." Keitaro asked, any intent of refusing his guest gone, now replaced with a deep, deep hunger.  
  
"Of course, It's fine with me. Why don't we discuss this in the landlords room." Came a jovial response. "Huh?.oh yeah, sure." Keitaro said, returning from his space voyage. Together they traversed the stairs and the ground to Keitaro's room, making small talk. "Nice weather, huh?" Seta said. "It's raining." Came a rather subdued response from Keitaro.  
  
Once inside and seated on either side of Keitaro's desk, Sera began.  
  
"Well, Mr. Urashima."  
  
"Call me Keitaro."  
  
"Well, Keitaro. I have favor to ask of you. But, before that what happened to Haruka Urashima?"  
  
"Oh, my aunt, well Grandma Hina passed away and kinda left Hinata Sou to me. She still runs the small café down the hill, though."  
  
"Great. I'll pay her a visit before I leave for Australia. Anyways, back to business. I'm going on an archeological dig to Australia, and can't take my . daughter with me. I was wondering if I could drop her off here for a few months. I have the fist payment here."  
  
Inside his mind, red lights and sirens were going of and flashing. [Oh God no! Can't let that she-devil stay here! Must go, must go, Refuse Refuse.] "Oh, well you see, I'm not sure I can take her in. She just seems like so much of a nice girl that I'd hate to have to take her in and tell her that her daddy can't take her with him on a dig."  
  
Seta looked confused for a minute, then continued. "My, I've never had anyone care for Sara so much. In fact, that's why I think you would be the best candidate. With others, I'd worry about her treatment. But you seem like a nice person. Plus, you're related to a close friend of mine. Who better?"  
  
[Lucifer. I can arrange that too. Let her come with you. Oh no, Shinobu's cooking wearing down resistance. Abort all nose function. Damn, too late. God It feels like I'm making a deal with the devil.] "Alright. Why don't you stay for sin.I mean dinner." Seta handed him a wad of money and followed him around the door. "Sure thing part-timer."  
  
Two staircases and 16 minutes later found Seta and Keitaro arrived in the dining room. Restraining himself from lunging at the feast before him, he introduced Seta, or was about to, "Everyone, we all have a guest today for ." "SETA!" Naru exclaimed before moving around the table and offering him a seat, Keitaro's seat. "Why thank you, it's sure is nice to be back here at Hinata Sou." Seta replied. Keitaro stared at the group for a long time, just soaking in to amazingly absurd situation he had found himself. He then realized that they had taken up all the seats, leaving him to fend for himself. "Wow, your generosity and concern really just astound me." He muttered sarcastically. Find a sizable gap, he grabbed a plate, got some food onto it and turned to leave. Before he could reach the door, however, "Where do you think you're going baka, you still have some explaining to do." Naru, definitely Naru. "About what?" Keitaro asked innocently. "You know darn well, what." "I really don't." "Well first there's the fact that you lured this sweet, innocent girl up here to try and put one of your pervert moves on her, then you leave our guest here!? Where are your manners?"  
  
"Shinobu was here because I invited her here since she needed to give me my notebook back, because she looked like she was going to collapse any minute. Secondly, me and 'our guest' have already talked, and in fact, Sara is going to be staying with us. Now can I go, I really have to get something in my stomach." Then, without waiting for a response, Keitaro beat it out of the room, leaving an irritated Naru, a stoic Motoko, a slightly downcast Kitsune, a still eager and energetic Sara and Su, and a completely oblivious archeologist.  
  
An hour and a half later, Keitaro made his way downstairs, having jus finished his dinner. The scene he found was something he wished he had had a camera for. Naru and Kitsune lay sprawled out on the sofa, Sara and Su were asleep on the rug, while Motoko had fallen asleep standing, and Seta was gone. Shinobu, however, was in the kitchen, finishing off the dishes. As she turned to put the dishes in the cabinet, she jumped in fright when Keitaro walked in the door. "Need any help, and don't worry about it, that kind of thing is bound to happed." He said when she dropped the dish she had been holding. 


	6. Welcome to Hinata Sou

Chapter 6 - Welcome to Hinata Sou  
  
A/N - Sorry for the long time no update, but here's chapter 6!  
  
The morning came by and greeted all of Hinata Sou's residents. Keitaro was the first to awake and look around. Kitsune next, then Naru, and so on. Sara immediately pulled out a stone sculpture, and hurled it at Keitaro, who ducked, out of habit, of course. This went on for a while before Keitaro gave up and let the American pummel him with stones, remaining still and unmoving at the kitchen table. Shinobu started breakfast and Naru talked with Kitsune while Motoko started her morning exercises. Su was nowhere to be found. Overall this Sunday morning was relatively calm, really calm, unnaturally calm, like the calm before the storm. Keitaro gulped, his vision suddenly red, looking around trying to find some source of danger, completely canceling out Sara, her already causing him grief.  
  
Then he saw it, a burly man followed by a distraught looking woman. Naru saw it too, and went to greet them. Suddenly everything went slow and he couldn't hear anything. He saw them look at them with disgusted looks, Naru was no exception either. He backed away, a look of terror on his face. Suddenly, the man was upon him yelling something incoherent.  
  
"WHY YOU PIECE OF SCUM! HOW DARE YOU TAKE OUR POOR INNOCENT CHILD FROM US, TO COME HERE TO YOUR HOME AND MOLEST HER! I'll KILL YOU, YOU BASTARD!" The man's fists started to fly. Keitaro's survival instincts kicks in and soon he is frantically dodging, ducking and appearing somewhere else like a bop the weasel machine, only without the machine of the weasel. Keitaro slowly started getting his senses back. He ducked one more time and asked; "What did I do? Who are you?"  
  
The man started pummeling him even faster. "What do you mean what did I do? Where were you last afternoon? Huh, you little @#$%!" Keitaro though for a while and answered, "Downtown Tokyo. Why?"  
  
The man stopped for a minute, looking perplexed. "I am Shinobu's father, whe went missing yesterday and people say they saw you taking her here." Keitaro looked at the man for a minute, then sighed and sat down. "Jeez, someone must really hate me up there." He muttered. Motioning for the seats, he said, "Why don't you sit down." The man and his wife sat down, but Naru stood shooting daggers at him, despite all logic, considering he had explained this to her yesterday.  
  
"I am Urashima Keitaro, kanrinnin of Hinata Sou. Which is incidentally an all-girls dorm now. A couple of days ago, I lost my notebook, and Shinobu, your daughter, found it. Yesterday, I met her at a tea shop, and, seeing as how she looked really distraught and uncomfortable, I offered her to come here. After a while of talking, Naru here, barged in and punched me, sending me in to the Tokyo region, and the rest is irrelevant. She is in the kitchen. She's making breakfast for unknown reasons, I nor any of my tenants have forced her to do anything at all. If you want, you can just go and get her. Is there anything else you need cleared up?"  
  
The man and his wife sat still and shook their heads. "Er.sorry for trying to hit you and all." The man sheepishly replied. "No problem, it's a common occurrence at this point. Why I'm not dead yet is beyond me." With this done and said Keitaro stood up and left the room, throwing a glance at Naru who was now acting kind of lost.  
  
An hour later, Keitaro walked down the stairs in blue jeans and a white work shirt. He had just finished waxing the floors, cleaning the windows and doing the laundry. He came down for some late breakfast. He expected everyone to be finishing their breakfast, departing to do whatever it was that they do. What he found was a crying Shinobu, a pleading Shinobu's mother, and an angry Shinobu's father. On the sidelines stood Naru, Kitsune, and Motoko, shielding Sara and Su.  
  
Keitaro watched awhile before stepping in. To him, it seemed as if Shinobu's parents were trying to get her to go home, but Shinobu wanted to stay. "Hold it for a sec, just calm down." He said softly. Shinobu quickly took refuge behind Keitaro and her parents started to pummel him accusations. "It's all your fault that she wont come home." "What did you do to my sweet innocent Shinobu, you monster." On and on, this went, until he had had enough. "ALRIGHT! Now what is going on?" He said rather loudly.  
  
"She wont come back to us, what did you do to her? This isn't our sweet compliant Shinobu." Keitaro raised his eyebrows and slowly turned. He looked down at the tear stricken Shinobu, "well?", he said carefully.  
At this Shinobu burst into even more tears as Keitaro looked down on her. He kneeled next to her and grasped her shoulders comfortingly, and asked, "C'mon, is it true?"  
Shinobu shakily nodded, and burst into even more tears. "Why?" Keitaro asked, now curious. Before she could talk, her mother suggested that they talk somewhere more private. Keitaro, catching on, nodded and lead them to the landlords room, a somber and dejected trailing behind him. The trip was taken in silence, the only noise now of the hushed voices of the tenants and the pitter-patter of the now cascading raindrops. (It's like the gods are giving me yet another bad omen, great, just wonderful) Keitaro thought sarcastically.  
  
Two sets of stairs found the group in Keitaro's room, all sitting at his table. Shinobu and Keitaro sat on one side facing her parents on the other. Her mother began.  
  
"You see, me and my husband, Shinobus father have been having some problems, and think that It's time we separated. We own a little café downtown and I planned on selling it so that me and Shinobu could go to Kyoto. There, our divorce would finalize, but Shinobu's spent so much time in Hinata that she can't bear the thought of leaving. But, as much as I hate it, it has to be done, because this sleepy little town holds to many bad memories for us."  
  
(Jeez, they talk as if she's not even here, no wonder she doesn't want to leave.) Keitaro stayed thoughtful for a second, absorbing the info. He glanced at Shinobu, who was looking pleadingly at him. (Can't let her go, she'd probably grow up to be a miserable, bitter woman, but can't let her stay.or can I?)  
  
"Mrs. Maehera, I know, in truth it's none of my business, but it seems that, if she really doesn't want to go, it's better to let her stay. I know you're short on cash, but if you want, she could stay here and pay her rent in chores. Before you say no, just think, something like this could scar her for life, completely change her into some kind of monster on the inside." Keitaro suggested.  
  
"What, are you saying we're bad parents? Who the hell are you to say that?" Shinobu's father bellowed, crushing the look of hope that had started to manifest itself in Shinobu's eyes. "Why I oughta." Then it happened, Mr. Maehera swung at Keitaro as Shinobu collapsed and her mother screamed. The fist collided with Keitaro's face, letting it's momentum launch him into the thin wall surrounding his room.  
  
Then, suddenly, defying all sense of logic and years upon years of medical inquiry, He jumped up, a frown the only remnants of his 'journey'. "Sir I wasn't insinuating anything, but I honestly think that Shinobu should stay here. I said, all she'd have to do is help with the cooking and laundry."  
  
Of course, this wasn't the way to go with a pissed father. He reared back once again . 


	7. Duel

Chapter 7 – The Duel  
  
(Character thoughts) [Author notes]  
  
"WAIT!" A distraught Shinobu yelled, halting her fathers assault. Keaitaro gave a small sigh and turned to face Shinobu. As did her parents. "I wan...want to s.st..y..stay here in Hinata Sou." And as she wished it, the gods made it be. [89 - I'm gonna cut this short, it's getting really annoying, typing in parent response is hard when your battling a serious case of writers block]  
  
Keitaro sighed as he finished repairing his room. Shinobu's parents had relented and she was now in the kitchen making dinner. The others welcomed her and also found a way to threaten him if h tried any of his moves on her. (This is getting a little too frequent.) Deciding a dip in the hot springs would be nice, Keitaro embarked on his way to the hot springs. He opened the door and walked in clad in nothing more than a towel around his waist. Easing into the water, he could feel all the pain and tense muscles ease away. He waded further into the water and found a small alcove for himself and settled in. His eyelids began to droop as he grew more and more relaxed. Suddenly, he was out like a light.  
  
Several hours later, the group led their new tenant to the hot springs, in order to enjoy a nice after dinner dip. "Can you believe the nerve, that pervert, not even showing up for dinner." Naru rambled. "It's not his fault, he was very busy I'm sure." Shinobu said to her even though she wasn't sure who she was trying to convince, herself or Naru. "Either way, he should have been there, lecherous as he is, this is low." Motoko said, drumming on her katana menacingly. Su and Sara jumped around noisily and asked their new friend in hurried questions.  
  
They group opened the door to the hot springs, clad in nothing but towels and entered. They heard no one and thus entered hurriedly. Sighing as they eased into the waters, they were unaware that Urashima laying asleep only feet away, as Keitaro remained oblivious to the oncoming danger. Motoko, Naru, and Kitsune leaned back into the rocks and sat socking in the water as Su and Sara dragged a smiling Shinobu deeper in.  
  
"Looks like Su found something interesting." Naru commented idly as she waded over to the foreigner. What happened next is not to be repeated at all costs. [Readers have been warned that any and all actions taken by any of the characters are practiced and possibly fatal without the right immortality.]  
  
Naru stopped when she reached Su, who was now poking the unnaturally human shape in the alcove. She recognized the figure instantaneously. "WHY YOU LITTLE!" Naru wound up and let loose, launching one of her most ferocious punches at Keitaro. The punch almost made it. Right at the moment it touched Keitaro's cheek, but had still not let all it's momentum slam into him, he panicked and slapped the hand away. The punches momentum sent Naru sailing to the other end of the springs.  
  
Motoko was up next, as Keitaro started to get a clearer head. "Urashima!" Realizing that for once, he could fake or beg his way out of this and bolted, grabbing his clothes and rushing out of the hot spring. The other's including Naru followed.  
  
Around and around Motoko chased Keitaro. Through the commotion, Keitaro had somehow changed into his regular clothes and was now closing in on his room. He leapt across the room and went for something in the back. Motoko jumped into the room just in time to see Keitaro escape throught the hole in between his and Naru's room.  
  
Quickly retracing her steps, Motoko raced up the stairs, only seeing red, and only vengeance in her mind. Searching sporadically for his ki, she followed him through the building, eventually winding up on the laundry deck. Keitaro held a sword loosely by his left hand, doubled over and wheezing form the run. He looked up at the sound of heavy footsteps and backed away, desperate for an exit.  
  
Finding none, Keitaro prepared himself for Motoko, who chose this time to rush up the stairs and bound onto the deck. By this time, the others had gotten changed and had gathered at the roof across the way from the deck to watch the massacre.  
  
"Urashima, how dare you break into the women's bathing area whilst we cleaned ourselves. Have you no shame?" She never gave him time to contemplate the answer and charged at him with her blade pointed right at his neck.  
  
Thinking quickly, Keitaro barely dodged the incoming blade. "What are you talking about? I was in there first, and besides, I am the landlord." Keitaro tried to explain, but the words never reached Motoko's ears as she round on him again, even more enraged that a novice like him had avoided her attack.  
  
ACTION | FIGHT motoko vs. keitaro  
  
Motoko launched one of her popular ki moves and sent a column of near invisible force directly at Keitaro. Keitaro leaned back, bent his knees slightly and brought his arms up in a criss-cross to defend himself. The attack slammed into him sending him back a few feet, but had little other affect.  
  
Motoko, now even more aggravated, launched herself at the unfortunate landlord. Keitaro recovered and raced towards Motoko, surprising the audience and Motoko. Motoko forced that thought out of her being and concentrated on her offensive.  
  
Then it happened, right before their swords clashed. Keitaro used his running start to jump over a bewildered Motoko. Motoko, barely stopped from rushing into the fence from her own momentum. She round on Keitaro and declared; "Urashima. I will never accept you and kanrinnin unless you can defeat me in combat."  
  
Keitaro, still confused as to the origins of this conflict, shrugged and made his next mistake by letting his mouth rub even more on Motoko's already bruised ego. "Whatever, this wont take long."  
  
Motoko's lips curled into a malicious smile as she whispered, "Oh, it certainly wont be too long...before you leave!" Without waiting for a response, Motoko charged in and delivered a powerful slash at Keitaros stomach, but he managed to parry the blow and launch one of his own. After pushing her blade away, Keitaro let loose a vicious downward stike at Motoko, who easily dodgedit and rolled away, jumping up to launch a KI move on Keitaro.  
  
Keitaro never saw it coming and get struck in the left rib area. He was launched a couple of feet but managed to stay in the deck. (Damn, gotta watch out for those) He thought.  
  
Motoko looked at him with a crocodile smile. Before he knew what he was doing, he charged in and delivered a three swipe combo, which Motoko barely avoided. Before she could launch an attack of her own, Keitaro's blade was at her stomach, sending forth a small amount of ki from the tip. Motoko got hit hard and was sent flying several feet. She insistently rose and charged at Keitaro. Keitaro ducked her overhead slash and continued to dodge even more of her attacks.  
  
After a while, Motoko jumped back and slashed viciously at Keitaro, who brought up his own sword and met her. Sparks flew as the tow weapons clashed and rebounded.  
  
"C'mon, do we really have to do this?" Keitaro said as he realized how tired she was. Motoko gave a powerful battle cry and lunged forward in response. Keitaro decided to end this before anyone got too seriously injured. He brought up his blade and pretended to began to bring it down, in a simple downward slash.  
  
Motko fell for the rouse and paused momentarily to let the blade come down. However, Keitaro let loose a very powerful ki attack and flung the raging vortex at a startled Motoko. The attack was dead-on and struck Motoko, who had begun to move forward, and collided with her body, slamming her backwards.  
  
Silence conquered the arena as the smoke cleared. Motoko lay on the ground, twitching slightly, but otherwise not moving. On the other side, Keitaro was panting heavily and wiping sweat from his brow. As the last of the smog disengaged, Keitaro walked over to Motoko and check to make sure was alright. The other girls crowded around their fallen comrade. Naru stared disgustedly at Keitaro and spat at him.  
  
"This is all your fault. Leave, right now." Naru said.  
  
"C'mon, I couldn't let her just attack me." Keitaro rebutted.  
  
"How could you hit a woman?"  
  
"One, she's fifteen, two, you did see her launch about twenty of those special moves?"  
  
"Still that's no right to hurt her."  
  
"But it's plenty right for her to attack me."  
  
"Hey, you peaked on us you perv."  
  
"You do realize that I was in there before you and anyone else."  
  
"You still haven't gone in there."  
  
"Why not? I'm the landlord whether you like it or not. I even battled Motoko for the title and won."  
  
"Oh come off it. You probably cheated."  
  
"Is it even possible to cheat on one of these things?"  
  
"You would be one to know, cheater."  
  
Keitaro sighed and rolled his eyes, before turning to leave the deck. "Wait." Came a small voice from the center of the group; Motoko. "You have proved that you are worthy of the post. I see now that in my haste to punish you, I failed to assess the situation."  
  
Keitaro checked that his mouth was under control and responded, "Well, what's done is done. Let's put itself behind us. But there is one last issue. I still don't know how everyone feels about me being the landlord. So I want you all to go around in a circle and voted yes or no for my stay. Motoko's has already accepted me, so let's go from there. Su?"  
  
"OKIES, onii-chan can stay!"  
"Shinobu?"  
"Of course Sempai."  
"...Sara?"  
"..."  
"Well?"  
"Fine, you can stay dork breath."  
"wow*shrugs and moves on* Kitsune?"  
"Sure, Mr. Urashima, maybe later you can come by my room to discuss the 'rent'."  
"*frowns*sure. Naru?"  
"I guess it woudn't hurt, just don't try any of you pervy stunts again. And we need to go over some ground rules." 


	8. Getting to Know the Fox

Chapter 8 – Getting to know the Fox  
  
Kitsune sat in her lonely room, a bottle of unopened sake in her hand. She was lost to world of the conscious. As she tried to stay away from the sake, her thoughts landed upon a certain male resident. 'If only,' she thought wistfully and took a large swig of her sake.  
  
In another room, bangs and clicking could be heard. Inside, two fierce warriors of video game world were in incredible combat. The score had been perfectly tied thus far, but, at this point, the male in the room was losing badly. The game, TEKKEN TAG TOURNAMENT, the players, a still energetic Su and an unbelievably tanned Keitaro, the sims, Lei and Baek underneath Keitaro's control, and Jin and Devil underneath Su's palm.  
  
One more hit would do Keitaro in, and he would be the first to lose. Out of the 861 matches they had fought, neither had won, only coming out in a draw. Keitaro desperately tried to make a comeback, while Su went in for the kill. Before Jin could land his spinning kick once more, Lei went into a backwards-flip kick. Quickly tagging out, Jin jumped up to meet Baek. A few kick flips and grapple moves later, the energy bars were once again equal. Su was now in a frenzy, trying desperately to land a finishing blow. As Devil began to fly up into a heat beam eyes attack, Baek landed a viscous axe kick on the purple demon, destroying Su's character.  
  
Su whined a bit, then gave Keitaro a rib cracking hug. "Thanks onii- chan. That's the best round of T.T.T, I've ever had." Su said.  
  
"Su...could yo..ou, please...my.ribs." Keitaro wheezed out. Keitaro took in a huge gulp of air as he glanced at the clock. "Good lord, we played right through the night!" Sure enough, Shinobu knocked on the door and announced that breakfast was ready. Keitaro shrugged and followed Su down the stairs, yawning and stretching along the way.  
  
The rest of the tenants were there, save Kitsune, when the two got downstairs. "What happened, sempai?" Shinobu asked worriedly, thinking her dear sempai might have contracted some kind of disease.  
  
"What are you talking about Shinobu?" Keitaro asked in his typical clueless manner.  
  
"You're tanned, dork. That's what she means." Sara butted in as she reached over and grabbed a some sauce from Keitaro's plate.  
  
"Sara, would you stop making up such f..." Keitaro stopped as he glanced down at his skin. "Holy cow..."  
  
"It was probably from my room. You know, staying ther all noght and all." Su explained, oblivious to Naru's now twitching eyebrow.  
  
"Oh yeah. I'd ask what's up with the whole theme, but after last night, I really don't want to know. I'm really sore from all those moves we tried." Keitaro concluded, secretly enjoying watching Naru flare under her glasses. "Well, I'm going to take a shower and get to work. Thanks for the food, Shinobu." Keitaro thanked as he walked away from the table, headed to his own private tub.  
  
Kitsune lay in the hot springs, an empty bottle of sake at her hands. She tried to get up, but found she couldn't. She giggle a bit, still under the influence. She tried again, but couldn't. She giggled even more as she slowly slid under the water, blacking out.  
  
A few feet above, Keitaro was drawn to the sounds of giggling. He looked over the enclosure of his bathing area and was surprised to find that it overlooked the hot springs. He smiled to himself as he watched the calm smooth surface, enjoying the view while the girls were away. As he looked on, he noticed that there were ripples in the surface. And, as he looked on still, he could barely make out the head of Kitsune. She wasn't moving.  
  
Adrenaline took over and Keitaro jumped down into the springs. He waded over after recovering from his fall. Gingerly, he picked up Kitsune's unconscious body and hauled her out of the springs. [she's wearing a towel. I just don't get how they stay on in the series.]  
  
Frantically searching for a pulse, Keitaros hand examined every part of her wrist. Going into a kind of frenzy, he plugged her nose and leaned in to perform mouth-to-mouth. The smell of sake quickly told him that she had fainted from the heat and alcohol.  
  
Sighing one last time, Keitaro drew in his breath. He lowered his face unto hers and then sealed her lips with his own. He exhaled forcefully, trying to revive his tenant. After a pause to get more air, Keitaro leaned in again for a second time. This time, she was awake. He nearly choked when he saw her. He stumbled back, clutching his chest and releasing a sigh of relief that his tenant would live for another day.  
  
After getting over his little panic attack, Keitaro rounded on Kitsune. "Are you alright? I mean, when I looked over from my bath and saw you lying there, not moving at all, I jumped down and dragged you up. What happened?"  
  
Kitsune sat up and leaned against a rock. "I probably just had a little too much to drink. Again." Kitsune sighed before getting an idea. "Say, Mr. Manager, how much do you think that kiss was worth. I say at least two months free rent."  
  
Keitaro's eyes bulged out of their sockets for a while before shrink back in. "What! You almost drown and now you're more worried about getting your rent paid. Jeez, I could never move on that fast." Keitaro said wistfully, before casting yet another concerned eye on Kitsune. "Are you sure you're alright? I mean..." he trailed of as he saw a tear form underneath Kitsune's eyes. He rushed over and put a comforting arm around her. "Hey," he cooed softly, "it's ok. We'll talk, but first, let's get out of her, the mist can't be doing you and good." As Kitsune nodded and stood up, a sudden thought came to Keitaro, (Man, this place never gets dull)  
  
Minutes later, Keitaro and Kitsune sat in her room, Kitsune in jeans and an over sized sweater, leaving Keitaro in olive green khaki shorts and a blue mossimo shirt. Between them was an old, old table, that had seen more than it's fair share of elbow. Keitaro gazed at the Osaka native, worry, evident in his eyes. "Do you wanna talk about it?" Keitaro asked.  
  
Kitsune remained silent. Keitaro looked around the room for the first time. In one corner were a series of paintings hung on the wall, in another a small shelf and closet. In yet another corner lay an ancient stereo system. Of course, what interested Keitaro the most, even more so than the treasure load of sketchpads, was a loose 'trapdoor' underneath the table he was seated at.  
  
After glancing at Kitsune, he gestured towards the loose floor panels and asked, "May I?" All Kitsune did was give a wistful and forlorn smile, then nod slightly. Moving the table off a bit to the right, Keitaro gazed upon the panels and asked again, "Are you sure?" Again receiving that same smile and nod, Keitaro opened it up.  
  
Naru turned the page again in her math textbook. She had nearly followed Keitaro and punched him into submission, when Su had told her that they had stayed up all night play some kind of video game. Su had fallen asleep as soon as breakfast was done and Motoko had left for a training retreat in Kyoto. Naru, Sara, Shinobu, and Kitsune were the only ones left in Hinata Sou. Sighing, she closed the book and walked out the door, deciding that a visit to Haruka's tea shop would be nice.  
  
Sara rummaged about through the hidden tunnels of Hinata Sou, going over ones she had already visited to get any extra details down on her map. She pulled out a pen after reaching a dusty shaft and recorded the piece of mold growing along the outer lining of the tunnel.  
  
Su turned over in her sleep, uttering one word, 'onii-chan'.  
  
Shinobu folded the laundry, happy that the tenants had welcomed her and determined to keep it that way. She thought of all the Keitaro had done for her in the past two days and smiled even more. As she returned to the laundry room, she could help but blush at the thoughts about her sempai as they turned from G to NC17.  
  
Keitaro looked at the items within the hidden compartment. Most of it was books, no journals that looked like they had seen a lot. The only other thing in there was a cooler. Opening the red box, Keitaro was startled to find bottles upon bottles of some of the finest sake in Japan.  
  
Keitaro looked up and gave Kitsune a wide grin as he pulled out a bottle of raspberry wine, and two cups, saying "How about we start happy hour a little early today?"  
  
A/N – Sorry It's a bit late, I've been busy 


End file.
